Treasure Hunting Marathon

By Patty Wysong

If you’re relatively new to this writing thing, remember it’s a marathon and you can’t sprint a marathon. Trying to burns you out long before the finish line is in sight. Use these first years (yes, years is plural) to lay a foundation, to practice, to make contacts, to build your platform, and to build your endurance muscles.

How do you
eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.

If you have young children at home, realize it might take a little longer because you’re a wife and mom first, writer second. The two combine well, but you have to keep the writing balanced. If the writing outweighs the family, you probably won’t like the end results.

When I first started writing I knew it would take time so I set a realistic goal for my writing. LoL, I was so… scared and lacking confidence that the goal gave plenty of leeway. With the goal in place, I studied what I needed to do to get me from where I was then (homeschool mom of 5 with a platform of maybe 15 people, techno-challenged, and scared silly) to where I wanted to be. Then I started working in the cracks of my mom-day. Baby steps. A little here and a little there add up.

The reasoning that kept me going:

These are years for preparing. Invest them wisely.

You don’t want to race to the finish line only to discover that it wasn’t just a race, but that it was a treasure hunt and you don’t have any of the things you need. Take the time to hunt out that treasure so when you reach the finish line your goodie bag is brimming with things you’ve gathered on your journey.

This doesn’t apply just to writing—it fits for any long term goals you may have. Life is a treasure hunting marathon.

So tell me, what are some goodies in your bag? Found any treasure lately?

_______________________________________________________________________Patty Wysong, a home executive with over 20 years of experience, homeschools three of her five children, but don’t let that fool you. She spends much of her time working on what God has placed in her hand: her keyboard. From the corner of her living room she writes inspirational fiction, devotionals, blog posts, and teaches online blogging workshops. You’ll also find her drinking kool aid from her china cup, preparing for the ladies Bible study she leads, and helping at their church.

Patty learned about blogs and blogging the hard way and now delights in teaching and helping others, sparing them that frustration so they can focus on what God has called them to do. Through her writing, Patty has found the extraordinary God in her ordinary life.